Niall Ferguson predicted 2 years ago Trump would go to Davos

Niall Ferguson’s new book, “The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power from the Freemasons to Facebook,” was published this month.

Two years ago, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, it seemed inconceivable that Donald Trump would be elected president of the United States. One year ago, it seemed inconceivable that he would ever come to Davos in that role. This week, the worst nightmare of Davos Man is coming true. President Trump — the personification of all that the “globalists” fear and loathe — is coming to town.

No part of the world — perhaps not even Washington — misses former president Barack Obama more than Davos. Trump wants tighter controls on immigration, and he has only recently referred to African countries in scatological terms. He is openly protectionist and has repeatedly threatened to scrap free-trade agreements such as NAFTA. He has shown little respect for the European political elite that sets the tone at Davos, leaning on them to contribute more to NATO. Above all, the president has come to exemplify the Ugly American in European eyes.

Yet to imagine that Davos is all about liberal principles is to misunderstand it. There’s a reason Obama never showed up. There’s a reason Trump will not be pelted with Swiss rolls when he does.